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2013 Beauty Favourites

Saturday, December 21, 2013

As 2013 is on its way out I figured it would be a wonderful time for me to fill you all in on my 2013 beauty favourites. I found this slightly difficult to narrow down my yearly favourite products because I have bought things recently (cue Naked 3 and several things from NYC) that I have completely fallen in love with, but I didn't want to add things that I haven't truly loved over the past calendar year.

Face: Although I do have slightly spotty skin at the moment, I adore the more natural and sheerer coverage of foundations. This past year I've been constantly reaching for my Revlon Nearly Naked foundation as well as Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. Both are light coverage that gives me the base I love and both last a long time on my skin. I've never been much of a concealer gal, but when I do need the extra coverage in some spots I definitely have chosen the Jouer Age Repairing Concealer. It has excellent coverage and doesn't get that cakey look. To powder between my brows, forehead, nose and chin I have hit pan on my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. It really does keep my shine at bay and it is so fine that it's great for touch-ups during the day. To add some colour to my cheeks I have fallen completely in love with the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Babydoll for a flush of pink. I'm not much of a bronzer girl because I find that I'm just too pale and most bronzers end up looking either muddy or orange on me, so blush is the way to go! Lastly for my face, in 2013 I went through THREE bottles of the MAC Fix+ for setting my makeup and getting rid of any powdery look. It's also great for spraying on eye brushes to get a more pigmented colour or for using shadows as liners.

Eyes: MAC Painterly Paint Pot has been my most reached for base for my eyes this past year. I absolutely love it! The nude shade evens out my lids and it makes my shadows last longer and appear more vibrant - a must have! My MAC Palette has been filled! During 2013 I really wanted to depot all of my MAC shadows and get them into a palette but they were sold out of the single palette, so I went for the duo. I found myself reaching for this all the time and I was so happy when it was finally filled with 15 of my favourite shadows. Some shadows in particular that I love are Blanc Type, All That Glitters, Sable, Satin Taupe, Wedge and Mulled Cider. If you would like to see all the shadows that are in my palette with swatches do let me know in the comments! My lashes seem to really get along with the L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara although I have found that even with a new tube the mascara can get a little clumpy on the brush, I just make sure to go over them with a plastic mascara wand to get out any clumps. For liner I have really loved my L'oreal Infallible Super Slim liner for a thin line and a small flick to finish off my eyes.

Lips: Lipstick is something that I luuuurve, it really polishes off any makeup look and can make you appear much more put together then you may be feeling. As much as I love a bright lip, during the year on a daily basis I was mostly after a "My Lips But Better" shade. Here I have 3 that I think are perfect. I do own 6 MAC lipsticks which to some people isn't many, but it's the perfect amount for me to be able to get much use out of each and every one. My most reached for MAC lipstick though is definitely Syrup as it is a muted down mauve that is just so easy to wear. Next we have the most glamorous lippy out of my favourite 3, this is YSL Nude Beige. I did do a whole review of this lipstick here so you can read more about it there! Lastly we have a lip stain, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey is a perfect shade for daily wear and lasts HOURS.

Brushes: I wanted to include some of my favourite brushes that I've been using over the past year. In general the Real Techniques brushes have blown me away, we can only get a few here where I live but the two collections I have are wonderful! I just photographed two of my favourites just to show you - the Buffing Brush and the Multi Task Brush! For eyes my two favourite brushes have both been by MAC. The 217 for the perfect blending or outer V application, and the 239 brush for packing on colour onto my lid.